Steve Ballmer Biography

Steven Anthony "Steve" Ballmer is an American businessman who served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft from January 2000 to February 2014. Prior to becoming CEO, he held several high-profile positions at Microsoft, heading various departments, including operations, operating systems development, and sales and support. He also served as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Support and as President of Microsoft. As a college friend of Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, Ballmer was one of the company’s earliest employees. In fact, he was the first business manager hired by Gates. Born into an affluent family, Steve Ballmer grew up to be an exceptionally brilliant student with extraordinary skills in mathematics. He graduated from Harvard College and worked for a time at Procter & Gamble before enrolling in the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He later dropped out to take up a position at his friend Bill Gates’ new venture, eventually achieving phenomenal success at Microsoft. After retiring from Microsoft following an illustrious career, Ballmer turned his focus to one of his other passions—basketball—and is currently the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, a team in the National Basketball Association (NBA).